Sprouting Seed Packets

Old seeds prove they are not past their sow by date

Suffolk seedsman Mr Fothergill’s prides itself on the quality of its seeds – though not, normally, to the extent of running germination trials on unopened, out-of-date packets. Perhaps it should: an eagle-eyed member of staff recently noticed that amongst a few out-of-date and slightly damaged-by-damp packets of sweet pea which had been discarded, one had produced a fine crop of seedlings. “We worked out that the seeds in the packet were five years old, but it looks as though every one has grown and looks really healthy. Two of us have taken them home to grow in our gardens and, hopefully, produce a wonderful display,” says the firm’s Rachel Cole.

See Mr Fothergill’s extensive range of sweet peas and other seeds at www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/

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Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.

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